nimwoo
Germany
This review may contain spoilers
Another victim of fan-requested second seasons
Don't get me wrong about the title - I am one of the fans that wanted this season to happen. I loved S1 and I wanted to see more of this amazing crew kicking bad guys' asses and avenging victims of several different crimes. However, based on the theme of these first 4 eps, I fear this is not what we're going to get.
I feel like at this point, the only thing that keeps me watching Taxi Driver 2 is Lee Je-hoon because he is an incredibly flexible actor with many faces that are always exciting to see. I have seen multiple of his works and he has never once disappointed me. He is a great actor and watching this show for him alone is totally worth it. Good thing that he's not only the main character, but actually the center of the show, so we get to see him a lot in all his different facets.
Other than Lee Je-hoon, I'm also curious about Shin Jae-ha's character, as he is so far the only thing that fits the "mystery/thriller" tag in the show (and whatever the sniper guy is on). These two plot points are (for me!) the only interesting thing going on, and honestly, it's disappointing.
While I do enjoy the whole crew and their dynamics and jokes, this season is so comedic and light that it feels like it was written for middle schoolers and it has completely lost its essence. Taxi Driver S1 is one of the darkest kdramas out there (or in recent years), and it serves well all the tags. We had a lot of action scenes with actual skilled fighting (I feel like the actions scenes in this season skip a lot of the action part and just show the results of the ass-kicking, which is underwhelming), and said action scenes were actually graphic and violent (tags of the show!), so we were in for the actual promised content. Action, thriller, mystery, and crime were present in every episode and they never felt forced or extra (even with Doki's unrealistic superstrength).
Not to mention that S1 had an incredibly thick plot and it developed accordingly since the very first Ep. It was dark and at times uncomfortable to watch, which is what made it so special and innovative. The cases were all connected to the major plot, and even the main characters' own storylines served a purpose to the plot. Now, I obviously understand why the characters don't have a deep storyline anymore because pretty much everything about them was resolved in S1, but I feel like this season has such a shallow approach that it even made me wonder if the mystery/thriller tags were there in this season at all (had to double check). They should add a comedy tag, and if they continue hinting at this romance between Doki and Goeun, might as well make it a romcom. I personally oppose this romance subplot because I know it won't be subtle (as it should be for this type of dramas, in my opinion) and because I know that at some point, there will be a damsel in distress situation in which Doki will suddenly realize his feelings or whatever reused plot accessory. Really hope I'm proven wrong there.
I guess you can say the crime tag serves its purpose, as the whole show has so far been about avenging victims of different crimes, but other than that there's really nothing about actually solving crimes, on top of the fact that the way they avenge the victims is not even satisfactory at all like it was in S1 - at least to me -, which is why this show was so appealing with its first season. I would say that the reason why the vengeance isn't even satisfactory is likely because the way they solve everything is based on nonsensical hacking (with very lame "hacking mode" floating screens that, in my opinion, are way too outdated and overused now), nonsensical luck (relying on external and unpredictable conditions that oh so happen to occur at the perfect timing), and nonsensical stages in which they manage to outsmart and/or overpower all the bad guys in the simplest and most mediocre ways.
Also, another thing that I feel is way too overused is the hero background music. I feel like they play it way too much even when no hero situation has happened yet, so when they actually do something hero-like, the music doesn't hit how it should because it's been overplayed too much at that point that you don't feel the 'momentum' anymore.
But anyway, I will still stick to the end of this season because, again, I love Lee Je-hoon and there are things that keep me watching other than him (even if that's the reason I listed at the beginning), and there are still 12 Eps left, so I'm hoping that the show will pick up and live up to S1, at least a bit. But it makes me genuinely upset that this season is so bland because Taxi Driver S1 is really one of the best shows out there, and evidently one of my favorites too, but I have to admit that this season is yet another victim of second seasons that weren't needed and only exist because of fans and viewers' requests.
I feel like at this point, the only thing that keeps me watching Taxi Driver 2 is Lee Je-hoon because he is an incredibly flexible actor with many faces that are always exciting to see. I have seen multiple of his works and he has never once disappointed me. He is a great actor and watching this show for him alone is totally worth it. Good thing that he's not only the main character, but actually the center of the show, so we get to see him a lot in all his different facets.
Other than Lee Je-hoon, I'm also curious about Shin Jae-ha's character, as he is so far the only thing that fits the "mystery/thriller" tag in the show (and whatever the sniper guy is on). These two plot points are (for me!) the only interesting thing going on, and honestly, it's disappointing.
While I do enjoy the whole crew and their dynamics and jokes, this season is so comedic and light that it feels like it was written for middle schoolers and it has completely lost its essence. Taxi Driver S1 is one of the darkest kdramas out there (or in recent years), and it serves well all the tags. We had a lot of action scenes with actual skilled fighting (I feel like the actions scenes in this season skip a lot of the action part and just show the results of the ass-kicking, which is underwhelming), and said action scenes were actually graphic and violent (tags of the show!), so we were in for the actual promised content. Action, thriller, mystery, and crime were present in every episode and they never felt forced or extra (even with Doki's unrealistic superstrength).
Not to mention that S1 had an incredibly thick plot and it developed accordingly since the very first Ep. It was dark and at times uncomfortable to watch, which is what made it so special and innovative. The cases were all connected to the major plot, and even the main characters' own storylines served a purpose to the plot. Now, I obviously understand why the characters don't have a deep storyline anymore because pretty much everything about them was resolved in S1, but I feel like this season has such a shallow approach that it even made me wonder if the mystery/thriller tags were there in this season at all (had to double check). They should add a comedy tag, and if they continue hinting at this romance between Doki and Goeun, might as well make it a romcom. I personally oppose this romance subplot because I know it won't be subtle (as it should be for this type of dramas, in my opinion) and because I know that at some point, there will be a damsel in distress situation in which Doki will suddenly realize his feelings or whatever reused plot accessory. Really hope I'm proven wrong there.
I guess you can say the crime tag serves its purpose, as the whole show has so far been about avenging victims of different crimes, but other than that there's really nothing about actually solving crimes, on top of the fact that the way they avenge the victims is not even satisfactory at all like it was in S1 - at least to me -, which is why this show was so appealing with its first season. I would say that the reason why the vengeance isn't even satisfactory is likely because the way they solve everything is based on nonsensical hacking (with very lame "hacking mode" floating screens that, in my opinion, are way too outdated and overused now), nonsensical luck (relying on external and unpredictable conditions that oh so happen to occur at the perfect timing), and nonsensical stages in which they manage to outsmart and/or overpower all the bad guys in the simplest and most mediocre ways.
Also, another thing that I feel is way too overused is the hero background music. I feel like they play it way too much even when no hero situation has happened yet, so when they actually do something hero-like, the music doesn't hit how it should because it's been overplayed too much at that point that you don't feel the 'momentum' anymore.
But anyway, I will still stick to the end of this season because, again, I love Lee Je-hoon and there are things that keep me watching other than him (even if that's the reason I listed at the beginning), and there are still 12 Eps left, so I'm hoping that the show will pick up and live up to S1, at least a bit. But it makes me genuinely upset that this season is so bland because Taxi Driver S1 is really one of the best shows out there, and evidently one of my favorites too, but I have to admit that this season is yet another victim of second seasons that weren't needed and only exist because of fans and viewers' requests.
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